Only Human
by OnewAyOnly
Summary: Ten years after the battle with Pitch, Jack goes to check up on him. This leads to a confrontation between Pitch Black and the Guardians, and when misunderstandings arise, thoughtless wishes are spoken. Man on the Moon decides enough is enough, and de-ages Jack in an attempt to whip the dysfunctional family into shape. De-aged!human!Jack


The idea for this story came to me very late one night. Sorry for any grammar mistakes, this story's beta is...well me. Also I couldn't do any of the characters' accents, so feel free to use your imagination.  
For Jack Frost, because he is so darn cute :)

* * *

 _Well there goes this year's winter Barbie Doll collection._  
Jack thought, watching a very angry Easter bunny get buried under a mountain of Barbies.

Normally, Jack would find something like this to be really funny. Only this time the mess of mass destruction, and chaos was due to an ongoing attack of a certain Nightmare King. Not to mention it was also _partly,_ his fault.  
And what a mess the battle was! Jack would have been proud, if only the location of this glorious disaster had not been Santa's Workshop. He was definitely going to have to help North cleanup later.

That is _if_ they survived this.

There were Nightmares everywhere. Scaring the stockings off of the little elves, charging at the Yetis, and basically destroying everything in sight.

"Bloody pink-wearing dollies!" Jack heard Bunnymund yell, the giant rabbit finally clawing his way out of the Barbie pile. Jack couldn't help a mischievous grin, or the comment that followed after it.

"Always knew you had a thing for blondes, Cottontail!"

Over on his right, despite holding off at least a dozen nightmares, Sandy was able to manage a smile and show his amusement through his fleeting images.

" _Oi!_ You focus on not getting yourself killed _again_ Sandman! And _you,_ Frost! I'm gonna remember that comment next time ya 're looking for a place to hide from the tooth fairies!"

 _Well that's totally unfair._

Tooth zoomed by, effectively disintegrating a couple of enemies.

"Boys!" She called out, clearly exasperated, "Less fighting, and more fight- oh, well less fighting with each other! Let's not forget who we're dealing with."

As if on cue, a familiar yet eerie laughter suddenly began to echo off the walls of the giant room. Speak of the devil and he usually shows up.

"I see you lot haven't changed a bit." Pitch says materializing from one of the many shadows littered across the room. "That should make things much easier." His last words ending in a sneer.

"We defeated you last time, an' we'll do it again!" Always count on Bunny to never falter in his bravo.

With the other guardians being kept busy by the overwhelming number of dark-sand horses, Jack gripped his staff tightly and advanced on the boogey man cautiously.

He hadn't had a direct confrontation with Pitch since their last battle ten years ago. If Jack was honest with himself, he had felt a little sorry for Pitch. They had both only wanted to be believed in, to have some sense of belonging in the world.

But Pitch had gone the wrong way about it. He had put the lives and hopes of innocent children in danger, and that was why they were on different sides.

So, why had Jack decided to fly by the hole he had last seen the Nightmare King dragged into? To help Pitch? To comfort the man? To offer a chance for redemption?

Fat lot of good his concern had done. It was obvious the only thing Pitch wanted from them was what he believed was some long overdue revenge.

"You really need to learn how to 'chill', Pitch." Jack said while shooting an icy blast in dark man's direction.

Whirling around to face him in momentary shock, the Nightmare King narrowly dodged Jack's warning shot. The man's gaze met his dead on and Pitch's gold eyes seemed to gleam brighter.

"Jack. Frost."

Said snow sprite could just see the venom dripping from his name.

Without any further preamble, Pitch hurled a wave of black sand Jack's way, murderous intend in his eyes. Jack threw himself backwards letting the sand-wave fly over his head. It crashed into the wall behind him with enough force to shake North's whole mansion.

 _That would've hurt._

For the first time Jack was actually worried that the Workshop might suffer damage that wouldn't be so easily repaired. He flew up with Pitch following close behind, their fight now continuing on one of the indoor balconies.

"I'm going to crush you Frost. And then I'll kill the rest of the guardians."

"Well that wouldn't be very 'ice' of you."

Jack retorted lightly, flipping out of another sand-arrow's path and landing on the other side of Pitch.  
"And after all the trouble I went through to see how you were doing."

Pitch let out spiteful laugh that held no humor.

"You can't fool me, your _precious guardians_ must have sent their little errand-boy to finish me off."

Jack shook his head, his snow-white hair shifting with the movement. "You got it all wrong Pitch. I honestly just wanted to see if you needed help, or something."

Knowing the risky position he was putting himself in, but wanting very much to show his sincerity, Jack lowered his staff.

"I don't want to fight you."

Pitch glanced at Jack's weapon, then back at his face. The boy's icy blue eyes bore into his, and Pitch squashed the nostalgic feeling that had started to rise in a moment of fragile peace, Pitch calmed the restless nightmares set on attacking the frost boy.

"I meant what I said back in Antarctica Jack, I wanted you as my ally." The man's tone unreadable. "You could still join me."

 _Great not this again_. Jack leaned on his staff, trying to keep his body from visably tensing up.

"See? Now I'm confused Pitch because you keep giving me mixed signals. Why don't we sit down and have a chat about it?"

Jack gave what he hoped was his most charming smile, after all there was a _small_ chance Pitch would accept his offer.

But, evidently Pitch had some sort of unnatural immunity to Jack's charms, if the evil chuckle he released was anything to go by.

"You think this can all be solved so easily? Centuries of hostility…" The dark man shook his head, "You're still just a child. I should have expected nothing more from you."

Pitch turned away form him, as if Jack was no longer even worth acknowledging. Any pity or sympathy he had felt for the Nightmare King was thoroughly crushed by annoyance Jack was beginning to feel, and his conscience decided that he could now beat Pitch up without feeling too bad about it.

Jack raised his staff and charged…only to be knocked aside by a large mass of black sand. He struggled to get up but the shapeless sand had begun to take form. Jack's eyes widened when he recognized the shape of the creature on top of him as a large spider.

He gasped in frightened surprise and tried to wiggle away from underneath the black monster, but the creature's hold held fast.

"I don't only control just the sand-mares anymore." Pitch said, his malice-filled voice coming from somewhere above Jack. The spider's fangs snapped dangerously close to his exposed throat.

"Goodbye Jack."

Before Jack could even brace himself for the end, a sharp object cut clean through the side of the black spider causeing it's form to crumble to pieces around Jack.

"Actually, I believe you're the only one who will be leaving Pitch Black."

A very irritated boogeyman plus an extremely grateful Jack, both turned simultaneously to stare at the one and only Santa Claus, who was holding the twin blade of the one he had just thrown.

Pitch barred his teeth at the Russian, moving steadily towards the room's main window. If the old man was here that meant his Nightmares weren't able to keep him at bay. And Pitch was not ready to try out his new creations on North just yet. He knew when he was outmatched.

One by one the guardians all rallied behind Saint Nick, even Jack floated closer to the group.

"Ya should've stayed under beds where you belong." Bunny growled readying one of his many boomerangs.

Not one to miss a chance to cause strife, Pitch smiled meaningly before saying, "Oh but it was your _dear_ **Jack** who came a calling."

The winter sprite swallowed a bundle of uneasiness as he noticed the guardians giving him questioning side-glances from out of the corner of his eye. Pitch glided across the room, his shadows following him and dematerializing into the darkness. He paused at the open window promising,

"I can assure you all, this won't be the last you see of me." Casting one final glare at his enemies, the Nightmare King faded, disappearing into the shadows of the night.

* * *

"Well, that went well."

Jack instantly regretted breaking the silence as four pairs of eyes suddenly turned to fixate on him. And not all those pairs of eyes mirrored the relief had he felt.

" _What in spring fever were you_ _thinking_?!"

The winter spirit resisted the urge to gulp as a suddenly much larger-seeming Easter bunny advanced on him.

"Bunny calm down-"

"No! What on earth were you thinking going after Pitch by yourself?! Do ya have a bloody death wish?!" The Pooka looked absolutely furious.

"Look I wasn't trying to cause any trouble I…I just wanted to try to help Pitch you know…" Jack began to fiddle with the end of his blue hoodie. "I thought maybe after all this time…maybe he would be…different."

Jack glanced up hesitantly, and nearly winced at the looks of utter disbelieve that the guardians were giving him. What had he expected? They had never known what it was like to be totally alone.

But before Jack could even attempt to further explain himself, Bunny all but exploded with anger.

"Oh for bloody- GROW UP Frost! A bad guy is just that, a _bad guy_. They aren't gonna magically change to good, just 'cause you've shown 'em a little kindness!"

"That's not what I meant!" The Jack's face began to heat up.

" _Oh sure_ it wasn't. Thanks to _your_ carelessness, _you_ put all of us in needless danger! _Again!_ "

Just stay cool, Jack told himself. He had used the old technique many times in the past to stay in control of his emotions. He had to be like ice, numb like the cold. Then nothing anyone could say would be able to hurt him. He just had to keep his cool. But that suddenly became a whole lot more difficult when Bunnymund starting demanding for some sort of disciplinary action.

"This last blunder was too much." The Pooka said glaring at Jack with his arms crossed over his chest, but speaking to the other guardians.  
"I say he stays on lock down for two months. No flying form country-to-country causing mischief just because he's bored. Jack has gotta learn that he can't be doing just whatever he wants."

Jack resisted the urge to smack his forehead with his free hand. He could not believe this! He had only wanted to help, the winter sprite had no idea his friends would react to it like this. _Weren't guardians supposed to help others?_

Being more than a little wounded about how his out-reach attempt had been perceived as a childish antic, Jack appealed to Tooth. She had always thought the best of him.

"Tooth, come on, you know I wasn't trying to cause trouble." The immortal teenager was practically begging for her support.

Tooth wrung her fingers nervously.

"It was a little reckless, Jack." She sighed and finally looked him in the eyes. "Some people just never change." She said with a tone of somber finality.

"I did." He instantly shot back.

"This is true Jack, but you are not Pitch." North stated, looking at Jack with something akin to pity. "Pitch will never change, this is reality. And if you don't understand this, then you could end up in danger."

Sandy nodded agreement with his old friend, Pitch had just spend too much time being evil. He wouldn't change.

Tooth took a step back, moving to stand next to Bunny.

"I'm sorry Jack," the tooth fairy said sadly yet firmly, "but I agree with Bunny. You will only get hurt if things continue this way."

Unbelieving Jack turned away from her and looked to the rest of the guardians. But neither North nor Sandman would look him in the eye.

This was unfreezing believable! They were doing the _exact_ same thing they had all done back on that ruined Easter morning. They were automatically thinking the worst of him, not listening to what he was trying to say. They _never_ listened to what he said. _**Ever**_.

"THAT'S IT! I've had it!"

Jack had never felt such rage, such _burning anger_.

"You guys are always treating me like I'm some _little kid_!" His words fueled by the fire of his emotions were spilling out faster than he could stop them.

"I WISH I NEVER BECAME A GUARDIAN!"

All of the guardians flinched back as if they had been slapped. Jack had never shown this kind of anger before. Bunny was the first to recover, shouting back an equally rage-filled retort,

"I WISH YOU WOULD SEE YOURSELF FOR THE CHILD YOU ARE!"

"Bunny!" Tooth raised her voice for the first time, "That's going too far-"

Jack cut her off the rest of her berating with an outraged yell.  
Before he knew it, he was slamming his staff on the ground, effectively freezing a great portion of the room.

His ears were ringing, and his heart was pounding at a furious speed.

Not trusting himself to stay in the same room with them any longer, he leapt off the ground and flew out the main room, ignoring the angry and pleading cries that followed him.

Instead of rushing out to the open sky, Jack flew deeper into North's home. Blowing past rooms and taking the hallways' twists-and-turns at break-neck speed.

 _Ground him!?_ Who did they think they were?

He was over _three centuries old_ , he wasn't a little kid they could needlessly scold and send to the corner to sit in timeout!

They had _no_ right. None whatsoever.

* * *

After a few good long minutes traveling through the maze of Santa's home Jack finally landed in one of the empty, but furnished, rooms.

He ran to the large glass window and threw himself onto the spacious window seat. He simply laid there, breathing in and out.

Slowly, Jack's anger began to cool. Having blown off steam, his body in turn also began to calm itself. His thoughts however didn't slow down with him.

 _They all see me as that, nothing more than a bothersome kid. Even Pitch doesn't take me seriously._

Heaving a long sigh, Jack buried his face deeper into the pillow. The guardians would, no doubt, come looking for him, but it wouldn't matter because Jack would be long gone by then.

Turning his head to catch sight of the moon, he was surprised to find that it was completely covered by clouds; the limelight glow was coming from another bright star.  
Jack had spent many lonely nights gazing at the sky. He didn't know how he could have ever missed this star though, the light shining from it really something.

The winter sprite suddenly jerked up in attention when the same star seemed to be getting bigger, as if it was growing! Squinting at the strange star, Jack could now see that it was glowing brighter too, and that it wasn't growing, it was getting closer!

A striking white light unexpectedly flashed, blinding him, and a painful sensation swept through his body. He tried to move away from the window but he couldn't! It felt like he was being stretched and compressed all at once.

Everything went dark suddenly and all of Jack's strength vanished with the light, the mysterious glare/glow gone just as quickly as it came.

Surrounded by darkness Jack realized that his eyes were closed. He opened them slowly, cautious of any pain that may be reactivated by the movement. When Jack could see clearly he was surprised to find himself lying on the floor.

The teen stood up gingerly, still wary of his pain-ridden body. But standing-up only deepened Jack's confusion.

 _Why did everything seem strangely larger?_

Jack scanned the room for something, anything, that could help him clear up his confusion and calm down his rising panic.

He spotted a full-body mirror on the other side of the room and staggered towards it, barely keeping from tripping over his own two feet.

Now, Jack considered himself someone who could handle just about anything the world could throw at him.  
As a human he had supported his two sisters after their parents' death, and had drowned in a lake to save his younger sister. He had spent three hundred years being relatively alone, had coped quite well with being entrusted with guardianship. Not to mention fighting (and winning) a battle against the Bogeyman to save the children of the world.

Jack thought himself to be a pretty tough guy.

But after a day of nightmare battles, dumb misunderstandings, fallouts, and weird-glowing stars…

Jack didn't really feel too embarrassed for fainting after being confronted with the reflected image of his brown-haired, doe-eyed, ten year-old self.

* * *

Aw, poor Jack, but something has to whip this dysfunctional family into shape. How will Pitch react to a de-aged Jack? (By the way, in my story the guardians don't know about Jack's past yet.)

Reviews welcomed.  
If you guys have an idea about how this story should go, or something you want included in it, then feel free to leave it in the comments. I'd be glad to hear it-err- read it :)


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